What Silently Falls Within Us
by Battleangel911
Summary: Stan and Ford continue hunting anomalies; they're journey leads them to the quiet town of Silent Hill. From the outside, it's just a tourist town, peaceful and serene. However, as the brothers go deeper within the town, they find their nightmares are real and an even more horrifying truth awaits them. Warning: Adult language and situations. Also spoilers from season 2 finale.
1. Chapter 1: The Foggy Town

Chapter 1: Into the Fog

The fog thickened as the RV moved further down the road. Stan Pines kept a steady gaze on the road, but it was very hard to see. Every time he saw that the road curved, he jerked the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to swerve and the tires to squeal. His twin brother, Ford had been sound asleep in the passenger seat, but the last swerve shook him awake. His eyes opened and his body jolted upwards.

"What the hell was that?" he cried. He turned to his brother.

"Everything's fine," Stan insisted. "It's just sort of hard to see the road." Ford looked through the windshield. The road turned again, but Stan didn't. He was a few feet from driving off the cliff.

"Stanley!" Ford yelled. Stan calmly turned the wheel, jerking the RV again. "Let me drive! You probably can't see a thing with those bad eyes of yours."

"Oh my God, Stanford! Leave me alone! You've been awake for three days straight, you're in no condition to drive."

Finally, the road leveled out. Up ahead was a small parking lot. Stan parked the vehicle and turned to Ford. "You should sleep a little more."

"No point now. We're here." He looked down at the device around his wrist. "According to this, there are all sorts of anomalies in this area. I can't wait to see them all!" He climbed out of the RV. Stan rolled his eyes.

"You're such a stubborn jackass!" he whispered to himself before leaving the vehicle.

The two brothers moved over to the railing, looking over the lake down below.

"So, what's the name of this town?" Stan asked.

"Not sure." He got out the map. He looked at the east coast around West Virginia. "There's a town called Centralia. I think this is where we are."

"Okay, well I'm going to use the bathroom over there, first." Stan walked towards the small building.

Ford looked down at his wrist to see where each anomaly would be. They seemed to just be scattered around the area, no pattern of any kind. It didn't matter, as long as he could do his job and complete his research. For the passed few months, he and his brother had been hunting strange and unnatural things and containing or getting rid of creatures that were a threat to the environment around them. Most men their age didn't do this type of work, but even in their sixties, Stan and Ford were formable matches to any peril they came up against.

After another few minutes, Stan finally came out of the bathroom.

"Oh my God! You gotta see what's written on the walls in there," he said, laughing.

"No, I prefer not to," Ford answered.

"Come on, it will only take a minute."

Ford sighed. He knew his brother wasn't going to leave him alone until he showed him what he wanted, so might as well get it over with.

Inside the bathroom, dirt caked the walls, along with colorful graffiti decorated every corner of the room. There were a lot of curse words sprayed all over the place with other vulgar terms.

"I really didn't need to see this," Ford fumed.

"Oh, a lot of this is just juvenile. I meant, this thing over here." Stan showed him a bunch of small triangles in the shape of a heart with the words, 'I'm waiting for you,' in the middle.

"I could care less about someone's love note," Ford said.

"Love note? That's what you call it?"

"What would you call it?" Ford asked, raising and eyebrow.

I just thought it was funny," his brother responded. He looked into one of the foggy, dusty mirrors, smoothing out his white hair.

"Why?"

Stan shrugged.

"Are we done here?" Ford asked with annoyance.

"Yeah, I guess so. Geez, you're no fun!"

They returned to the RV where Ford grabbed a bag with several medical supplies.

"Are we taking all of that?" Stan asked.

"No, we probably won't need all of it, but I'm making sure we have enough," Ford said as he put three first aid kits, ammo, and two jugs of water in a large backpack.

"Okay, what guns are you taking?" he asked.

"I already got my magnum and I also have my six inch blade too," Stan answered. "I also have these too," he said showing a shinny pair of brass knuckles.

"Okay, but don't just go shooting, slashing and punching things. I have to—"

"—Make sure the anomaly is a threat and not just protecting its home. I know all of that—Geez! Can we go already?!"

"Yep, I'm ready. I'm not exactly sure what we're going to find, but it should be interesting."

"Come on, they're just more strange creatures like the others we've seen."

Ford shut the passenger side door. "Make sure it's locked."

"No duh, Ford," Stan said as he pushed the button on his keys.

On the other side of the parking lot was a sign that read, 'Toluca Lake, pointing down a set of cement steps. The twins followed them down to a dirt path. Trees surrounded them on all sides. As they continued down the path, they heard the sound of something brushing against the nearby bushes. Both brothers stopped and turned to look behind them. Nothing moved. They walked further down the path. It wasn't too long before the noises happened again and this time it sounded like footsteps following them.

"Is there something over there, are we just losing our minds?" Stan wondered.

"I don't know. I really don't have time to deal with ghosts following us."

They made it to the other side where they went through a gate. The two paused to look through the thick fog. It took a moment for them to recognize everything around them, but then recognized the rows of tombstones line on the grass.

"Oh, well, isn't this nice," Stan said sarcastically.

"Come on, let's keep going," Ford pushed.

They made there way through the graveyard and through another gate. Finally, they found a paved road that led into town. A stand with pamphlets in a plastic container stood on the edge of the sidewalk. Ford pulled out a pamphlet, on the front it read, 'Welcome to Silent Hill.'

"Oh, so this town is called Silent Hill? That sounds kind of tranquil," he said.

"Sounds like a backwater town that you'd see in a horror movie. It looks quiet from the outside, but there's a lot of secrets hidden on the inside."

Ford rolled his eyes. "Really Stanley? Stop watching TV." He unfolded the pamphlet, which revealed a map of the town. "Oh, perfect. This what we needed."

He looked over the map. For whatever reason, there was a black X next to Neely's Bar.

"I guess someone already used this map. Maybe I should get another one." He reached for another pamphlet, only to find an empty container. "Oh, this is the only one."

"It doesn't matter," Stan said. "It's just one mark. Besides, maybe it's a clue. Let's go to the bar."

"You just want to have a drink," Ford teased.

Stan smiled. "Sure, why not?"

"Actually, I wonder if anyone is around. This town looks deserted."

"Oh, well, it's Sunday. People are probably at home or at church."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Ford replied.

The two siblings didn't have a problem finding the bar, especially with the big sign out in front. They walked inside. Their eyes opened in shock as they stood in a completely dark room in a hole in the wall bar. On the counter was another map and a key with a tag that read, _Woodside Apartments_.

"What the hell? Is anyone here?" Stan asked.

Ford took the key and looked over the map. "This is just weird."

"You want to see something weirder?" Stan asked as he pointed to the window. The light from outside made the writing on the window visible so they could read it. _'There was a hole here. It's gone now.'_

"Okay, what does that mean?" Ford asked.

"I don't know. You're the smart one. Figure it out."

"Well, I understand what's its saying, but I don't know why. Was there really a hole here, and then it was repaired or is there a more metaphorical meaning?"

Stan rolled his eyes. "Geez, sorry I even brought it up."

Ford copied the new marks onto his map and grabbed the key before they left.

"Okay, the apartments are this way," he said as they walked down the street.

The gate to the apartment complex was locked with a heavy chain and padlock. Ford used the key and pushed open the gate.

"Just so you know, I'm very weary about these so called clues leading us right now," Stan said. "Who's doing this?"  
"I really don't know," Ford answered. He looked down at his wrist device. "However, the anomaly ratings are really picking up as we're moving in this direction. In fact—" He walked over to the dumpster between the two sets of doors into the complex. A radio stuck out from under a trash bag. Static blared out of its speakers. Ford pulled it out and looked it over. No marks in the red exterior, but the thing still looked old.

"What are you doing? Don't mess with that," Stan warned.

"This thing's switch is broken. It doesn't even look like it should be working. I'm wondering how it's making that sound."

"Who cares?" Stan wailed.

Suddenly, something moved from behind the dumpster. It crawled out of the tiny space, its body twitching as it stood on its two legs. Whatever it was had its arms crossed in front of its body like it wore a straight jacket. Only there wasn't a jacket, but rather it's leathery skin. It continued stumbling its way towards the two brothers.


	2. Chapter 2: The Pyramid Monster

Chapter 2: The Pyramid Monster

Ford and Stan backed away instantly as the deformed creature waddled towards them. Ford pulled out his inter-dimensional gun and Stan held his magnum out. Suddenly, the monster spit out a ball of acid. Ford jumped out of the way before it hit him. Both brothers pumped bullets and ray beams into the creature until it fell at their feet. The creature sputtered and convulsed on the ground. Stan walked over and stomped the heel of his show into the creature's skull, crushing it. He stared down at the creature that no longer moved.

"What the hell is this thing?" Stan shouted. "This thing is not like the other anomalies we've seen before."

Ford still stood with his mouth agape. He slowly closed it, breathed in. He looked down at the radio, which stopped making static.

"The radio stopped making that noise," he said.

"Forget the damn radio! It's a piece of junk!" Stan raged.

"Well, if this thing is doing what I think it is, this piece of junk told us that the monster was there," Ford pointed out. Stan raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I'm taking it just in case," Ford said.

"Fine. Whatever. But I hope we don't see more of those things."

Ford pulled out a notebook. He quickly wrote the description of the creature and gave it a name, 'Insane Patient' or 'Patient' for short.

"Are you actually going to sketch that thing like you did the other anomalies?" Stan asked.

"I'm not sure I can," he said. Truthfully, he couldn't look at that thing without gagging.

"Let's just go inside already," Stan said impatiently.

The brothers entered the apartment complex. Dirt and grime covered the walls. A map of the apartments hung lazily on the wall. Ford grabbed the map.

"Really? How many friggin' maps do you need?"

"I find it useful to know where I'm going," Ford defended. "Not everyone just goes about randomly hoping they'll find their way."

Stan ignored his brother and walked towards the door across the hallway.

"So, what are we looking for here?" Stan asked.

"Well, I'm still picking up more anomalies, so let's just check each floor." Stan tried to open the door going into the first floor hallway. However, it wouldn't budge.

"Well, that's one floor off our list," he said before heading up the staircase.

On the second floor, the radio began pouring out static again. They only had to turn the corner to see three more Patients staggering about.

"They don't see us. We can surprise them," Ford whispered. He aimed his gun at the closest one and fired. The monster fell and began convulsing on the floor. Stan shot the second one, causing it to do the same. The third one charged at them, spitting out the acid. The two brothers ducked behind the corner before they were hit. As it rounded the corner, the monster was met with bullets and lasers to the head and chest. It fell motionless. The static lessened, but Ford was surprised it didn't stop. He looked at the radio. Suddenly, the other two Patients previously shot regained some mobility and scampered across the floor.

"Ahh! What the hell?" Stan cried as he tried to shoot one in the head, but missed. "I thought they were both dead!" The two creatures scurried to the other end of the hallway, huddling in the corner. Ford moved down the hall towards them.

"Be careful," Stan warned. Ford eyed the two Patients for a moment. He aimed his gun at one and shot it in the head, and then did the same to the other.

"Okay, we should check these rooms," he said.

Stan tried to open a door. "I'd love to, but this one won't budge."

Ford opened the door closest to him. "This one opened." He looked inside. It was a small apartment. Stan walked up next to his brother. "Anyone here?" he called.

"I'm not sure anyone is in this town," Ford replied. "Who knows what happened. I mean, with all these monsters—"

"Well, we didn't see any corpses in the streets, so I can't say the people were killed. They could have just left town."

"Maybe," Ford replied. He moved into the living room where there was an old dusty couch, across from a tiny TV on a table. Stan looked around the kitchen. Stale and putrid smells came from the fridge so he avoided opening it. Turning around, he saw handgun bullets sitting on the counter top.

"Oh! Hello!" he beamed taking the box. Looking over the box, they appeared to be for a magnum, which was perfect. Ford continued searching the apartment. There was a door next to the kitchen, but it was stuck fast when he tried to turn the knob.

"Hey look, found some more ammo," Stan showed the box of bullets.

"Hold on. Those belong to someone. We have our own ammo. Put that back."

Stan narrowed his eyes. "Well, it's not doing whoever left them here any good. We might as well make some use out of them."

"What if that person comes back? What if they need those?" Ford tried to make his point.

Stan shook his head. "Forget it. I'm taking them." He stuffed them into his coat pocket as he exited the room. Ford let out an aggravated sigh as he followed.

They continued to the hallway on the other side of the floor. Once there, the radio gave out more static, but the creatures they saw were not the same. These ones were smaller. They were yellowish-brown in color, with triangular body scurrying around on eight legs like spiders.

"Those don't look nearly as threatening," Stan said. "We could probably just step on them." Suddenly, spikes erupted from the bodies of one of the creatures.

Stan gritted his teeth, looking at it with wide horrified eyes.

"Now, these are the anomalies I'm more used to," Ford said taking out his notebook. He sketched the creature and wrote some notes about its appearance and other attributes. He named them, 'Pyramid Spiders.'

"Are you done? Can I shoot them now?" Stan asked, being a tiny bit annoyed.

"I'm not sure if they're a threat."

"I think everything in this town is a threat."

They started down the hallway. Suddenly, the spiders turned towards them. Gathering in a heard, they charged. The twins backed up, drawing their firearms. "See, what did I tell you?" Stan tossed out. These creatures weren't very strong, they just needed one bullet to send them flying backward with their feet in the air. After all the pyramid spiders were disposed of, the static quieted down.

"I think we're good with this area, let's move up to the third floor," Ford said.

On the third floor, the twins were met with absolute silence. They turned the corner, just as they heard a young boy and girl scream.

"Whoa! Who the hell just screamed?" Stan asked loudly.

"It came from this direction," Ford answered as they ran up the north hallway.

They ran until they saw bars blocking their path. On the other side was a very tall and imposing figure, standing there staring at them. At least, that's what they concluded as the creature didn't really have a face. The triangular head connected to a humanoid body stood still like a statue. He had the same yellowish brown color, mixed with blood and rust all over its body. The static on the radio went crazy.

"It's not doing anything. Maybe we should just leave it alone?" Ford wondered.

"It's another monster. Just shoot it!" Stan shouted as he pulled out his gun. However, as he aimed it at the giant creature, he lost his nerve. All Stan could do was stare wide-eyed at the fiend. Slowly, he lowered his gun. The brothers tuned to the door on the right side of the hall. Ford slowly opened the door before they walked inside.

The room was a horror to see, blood covered the walls and floor. In the corner was a TV switched on, showing white static. Blotches of blood splattered the screen and down on the floor—were the burnt bodies of two children. Blood seeped from their wounds, and no distinguishing characteristics were left on their faces.

Stan and Ford stared down at the children. Ford covered his mouth and turned away as if he felt sick. Stan blinked a few times, hoping that when he opened his eyes, the gore wouldn't be there.

"Whose kids are these?" he asked after a moment.

"I don't know," Ford responded. "Those poor things. Did that monster outside do this?"

"This is too messed up," Stan said. Suddenly, they heard something move in the room next to them. The sound of a big knife scraped along the floor. Ford turned in that direction. His eyes hardened as he prepared his gun.

"If that monster did do this, we need to take care of it before it hurts anyone else."

They walked into the small room adjacent from the living room. The flashlight in Ford's pocket shinned on the wall, showing four strange symbols. Two were right side up triangles, one with a line and one without. The next two symbols were upside down triangles drawn in the same fashion.

"Hey, I recognize these," Ford said. They're Alchemical symbols."

"So?" Stan asked.

"Each symbol represents one of the four elements."

"Four elements? What are those?"

"The first one is fire, then air, water and earth. The right side up triangle is fire and the upside down triangle is water, these two are opposites. The triangles with the line through them are air and earth, which are opposites." Stan stared at his brother, wondering why he was mentioning this.

"So what?" Stan asked, getting even more annoyed.

"There's something written here," Ford went on. "Match the element with it's true self.' Sounds like some sort of puzzle."

"Sounds like a bunch of crap," Stan said.

So, we need fire," Ford went on ignoring his brother's complaint. "Do you have a match?"

"Match?" Stan questioned. He took out his lighter from his coat pocket. "How's this for a match?"

"Great! Hold it up to the first symbol," Ford instructed. Stan did so and part of the wall opened up a sliver. "Huh, interesting." Ford looked at the next symbol, air. He blew onto the picture, the door opened up a little more. The next symbol was water. Ford took the backpack off and opened it to get one of the jugs. "Good thing I brought these," he said as he opened it. He poured some water into his cupped hand and tossed it at the symbol. The door was almost open. "Last one is Earth." He took some dried mud off his boot and smeared it on the last picture. The doorway fully opened and they could see into the next room.

When Stan and Ford emerged in the room on the other side, the monster was gone. No static came from the radio, only deafening silence surrounded them.

"Where did that creep go?" Stan asked hastily.

"I don't know, but we need to get rid of it."

Stan let out a groan. They walked down the hallway to the other stairwell.

On the other side of the bars now, the twins kept their eyes peeled, but there was no sign of anything.

"How come it's quiet all of the sudden?" Stan wondered.

Graffiti covered the walls. Ford stepped into the laundry room while Stan started reading everything written on the walls. One in particular caught his attention. He saw it before at the rest stop bathroom when they first got to town. It was a hundred dollar bill. In the middle of it was a heart with were the words, 'I'm married to my money.'

"I still don't know why Ford didn't laugh. He has no sense of humor."

More graffiti lined the walls inside the tiny laundry room. As Ford explored more, he saw something glimmering in the open trash shoot. Inside was a key with a tag that read 'fire escape.' He returned to the hallway.

"I guess we go to the fire exit door next," he said.

"Fun," Stan responded with sarcasm. "So, where's the fire escape?"

Ford looked at the apartment map. "On the second floor," he pointed towards the north stairwell. "This way."

They returned to the floor below, following the hallway south. There weren't any bars on this floor, so they had an easy path. Turning the corner, the brothers followed the hallway to the fire escape door. Ford used the key to open to door.

There wasn't an outside staircase, but the door into the next building was close enough for them to climb across. Ford stepped through first and Stan followed as they entered a bedroom with a bunch of broken glass on the floor. A bed was to the right of them, but not much else.

"It looks like someone already broke in," Ford said, looking at the glass.

They continued into the living room where a safe sat in the far left corner.

"Hey! I wonder what's in here," Stan said as he tried to open it. Of course it was locked. "Alright, looks like I'm going to have to break into it," He put an ear to the safe as he turned the dial right and left.

"You're really going to break into someone's safe?" Ford asked.

"Hey, this is an abandoned town full of monsters. Everything is fair game," Stan said as he puled on the lever, but it didn't budge.

"I don't know why you thought that was going to work," Ford said. Stan mumbled to himself as he walked into the bathroom. He noticed something was stuck in the toilet, a wallet. His eyes brightened.

"Hey Ford, get in here," he yelled.

Ford peeked inside the bathroom and immediately covered his nose and mouth.

"What the hell? Stanley, what are you doing?"

"Someone dropped their wallet," he paused for a moment. "I dare you to pull it out."

"God no!" Ford replied. He almost threw up right there.

"Come on! Do it! Do it!" Stan shook his fists ecstatically.

"You do it!" Ford returned crossly. Stan looked down into the murky, brown water. Then his eyes spotted a metal pole inside the bathtub. He grabbed it and tried to fish out the wallet.

"Really Stanley? Are you that desperate for money?"

"Just—shut up! I just wanna see what's in it." He successfully pulled out the wallet as it fell to the floor. No money was inside, but a piece of paper fell out. On the paper were three mathematical equations. None of it made any sense to Stan. Ford, on the other hand, looked at it with ecstatic eyes.

"Interesting. I bet I can solve these." He grabbed his pen and notebook.

"Yeah, have fun with that," Stan said, having no interest in the matter.

It took Ford only a few minutes to equate all three answers. The ending three numbers were 71417.

Ford used the combination and pulled the lever, opening the safe. Inside, they found more ammo than they knew what to do with. Stan had a big grin as he began pocketing everything.

"I feel strange taking all of this," Ford said.

"Get over it, already. Everyone has fled this god-forsaken place. The only reason we're still here is because 'somebody' had to study and contain every unnatural thing he finds."

"I didn't think there would be a swarm of monsters. We've not come across anything like this, yet."

Once they walked into the hallway, the radio poured out static again. They made it to the stairs without seeing anything and headed down to the second floor. As the two entered the hallway, they were greeted with the Patients and Pyramid Spiders.

"Oh, see, and you were upset we took the extra ammo," Stan said with a laugh.

"No, I said I felt bad about taking someone else's stuff. Not everyone justifies stealing from others."

"I didn't justify anything! I was just staying—" Suddenly, one of the Patients spit acid right at Ford, hitting his arm. The acid burned through his trench coat and his sweater, going all the way through a few lays of skin. He screamed, partly in pain and partly in rage. Taking his gun, he fired the ray beams into the creature until it fell. More came out them, but it wasn't difficult to take each one out. They cleared the hallway pretty fast.

At the end of the hallway was a doorway ajar, leading into one of the apartments. They entered the room to find it empty except for a couch and coffee table. They moved out onto the balcony. The light was a shock to their eyes as they'd just been in the dark hallway. Across the way, they saw the park and the lake.

"So, maybe after we're done here, we can go back to the RV," Stan said. "I mean, do you really need to keep exploring this town?"

"I can't ignore what's here. What if these anomalies make their way out of town and start taking over other cities? Remember, we had this problem before?"

"So, you want to take care of all these monsters. Do you even know how many there are?"

Ford let out a sigh. "No. I do believe that the monster we saw back in the other building may be the one we really need to take care of. Either it's the leader of the others or it's controlling the others somehow. We just need to learn more about it."

In the next room was a large bed with a key on the pillow. Ford took the key, examining it for a moment.

"Another fire exit key? Who keeps leaving these things?"

Stan shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"No, I guess not." As they stood in silence, a low whispering voice erupted in their ears. "What did you say?" Ford asked his twin.

"I didn't say anything." The two looked around feeling uneasy. No other whisperers were heard.

"Okay, let's get out of here," Ford said walking fast paced to the door.

At the end of the hallway, they found the fire exit.

"Is this it?" Stan wondered out loud. "Can we finally get out of here?"

They walked through the door, relieved to finally get out of the old and broken down apartment complex. However, that relief turned back into horror as they stared at the large pyramid headed monster standing by the exit stairs, holding a long knife in its hands.


	3. Chapter 3: The Vacant Streets

Chapter 3: The Vacant Streets

The pyramid monster moved towards the two brothers, lifting the giant knife. Ford and Stan ducked out of the way as the sharp blade came down over them. The swing missed; metal scrapped down the wall. The twins fired their weapons without a second thought. Unfortunately, the bullets and ray beams bounced off of the giant monster. The knife came down again and the two brothers had no other choice but to run the opposite way. They kept avoiding each attack, not realizing they were backed into a corner until it was too late. The pyramid headed creature closed in on them, raising his great knife.

"Well, this wasn't the way I planned to go, but at least you're going too," Stan said to his brother.

"Oh, thanks a lot," Ford answered narrowing his eyes.

The two men ducked one more time as the big knife almost hit them.

Suddenly, a loud siren went off. It came from all sides. Stan and Ford suddenly covered their ears, trying to block out the piercing sound. It was so intense that both of them fell to their knees. The pyramid monster turned and walked down the stairs. The sirens quieted as the monster exited the building. The brothers were finally able to uncover their ears and stand up.

"What the hell was all that noise?" Stan fumed. "God, this place just wants to screw with us!"

"Well, we can finally get out of here, so let's go already," Ford said heading towards the stairs.

As they entered the back alleyway from the apartment complex, the fog engulfed them. They couldn't even see the pavement at their feet, let alone what was right out in front of them.

"So, where are we going?" Stan asked. Ford took out the town's map.

"Well, I actually want to check out the area more."

"Of course you do," Stan said with low enthusiasm.

Down the street, they soon found grass and some stone steps leading up to a small, plateau with shrubs planted around in a square.

"Where are we now?" Stan asked. He grunted as he almost tripped on one of the stone steps. "Goddamn it!"

Ford saw some words engraved on a stone tablet. "Rosewater Park, that sounds peaceful," he said.

"Nothing in this backwater town is peaceful—or majestic—or tranqu—whatever the other word you used to describe it."

"Tranquil?" Ford asked.

"Yeah, that! This town is one step away from being in a B horror movie!"

Ford had no response as they continued down the stone steps on the other side. They walked onto the level ground, carefully moving around park benches, trying not to smack into them. Finally, they saw the lake in front of them and the guardrail with looking glasses spaced out along the rail.

Ford looked through one, but he couldn't see much on the foggy lake.

"Well, I guess we can keep moving," he said. They walked back into the area in town with more shops. It was a real ghost town; absolutely no one was around. Ford turned to his brother. He began to really take in that his brother was the only other human being within miles. "Hey, uh, I wanted to thank you for coming with me," he said to Stan. His twin turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"Well, who else would go with you on an adventure of a lifetime?"

Ford laughed lightly. "This has been an adventure, hasn't it?"

The spirits of the two brothers were picking up as they moved down the road towards Pete's Bowl-O-Rama. They stopped just outside the building.

"We're not going in there, are we?" Stan asked.

"Not picking up anything inside or out here for that matter."

"Maybe the monsters are gone," Stan said hopefully.

Ford raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You really believe they're just gone?"

"No, but I was hoping you would." Ford laughed suddenly. Stan raised his eyebrows in response.

"What is with you?" Ford asked his brother. You didn't act this way while we were on the boat in the Artic. Usually, you're ready to take on these kind of things, why are you acting this way?"

"What do you mean, 'acting this way?" Stan raised his voice.

"I hate to use the word, especially for you, but—you're being kind of cowardly."

"Excuse me?" Stan raged.

"Just saying,"

"Well, screw you too! I wouldn't be here with you if I was that type of person."

"Just relax, Stanley. I was just joking," Ford replied as he walked across the parking lot. Stan followed him until he suddenly stopped. A huge roadblock stopped the path in the road. And by roadblock, there was a giant chasm.

The brothers stared out at the void in utter shock.

"Okay, is this going to be explained or is this another giant 'screw off' from this town?"

"It just means we have to find another way," Ford said rather calmly. He turned towards a small alley.

They walked over to the door into the building next to the bowling alley. Ford tried the door, but it was locked.

"Okay, never mind. I guess we can't get in. That's strange, there's nowhere else to go."

"Okay, hold on, I'll take care of this," Stan said taking out a lock pick. He continued to use it on the door lock, continuously twisting the pick until the lock clicked.

Inside the door there were a few cases of empty beer bottles sitting by an ascending staircase.

"Looks like we missed the party," Stan said looking at the bottles.

"Yeah, like this would be the time to drink," Ford replied jokingly.

They headed up the stairs and through a green door.

As the two emerged into the next room, their eyes widened at the small bar with a neon sign resembling a woman. They turned to the stage and the pole in the middle.

"We're in a strip joint," Stan said a little too excitedly.

"And?" Ford asked.

Stan looked across the room at the sign that read, 'Heaven's Night.'

"Nice," he commented. He turned towards his brother. "So, where are the ladies?"

Ford rolled his eyes. "They probably left with everyone else. Besides, this is hardly the time for this type of thing." Stan didn't reply as he walked the tables. Down at his feet was a flyer with a woman with dark hair. There were words under the picture. "The Beautiful Maria."

"Ooh, look at this," Stan said shaking the flyer in Ford's face. He looked over the flyer. The woman was beautiful, but it was just a picture. There were more important things to do.

"We need to keep moving," Ford said finally. He walked towards the door on the opposite side of the room.

Stan still looked at the flyer. "Whatever. I'm keeping this," he said stuffing it in his coat pocket.

On the other side of the door, the twins walked down a shaky metal staircase. As they walked onto the street, something ran towards the hospital next door. No, not something...someone.

"I-I think I just saw someone run into that building," Ford shouted. He pointed in the direction of a man who may have been in his late thirties opening the door into the hospital.

"Wait, an actual person?" Stan asked. The two raced towards the large building. Their eyes caught the sign in front reading _Brookhaven Hospital._ They shared an equally hesitant glace towards each other before walking up the steps and through the double doors.


	4. Chapter 4: Urgent Care

Chapter 4: Urgent Care

Inside Brookhaven, the brothers found a rather dreary exterior with dim lighting. A map of the hospital hung on the wall.

"Ooh, another map," Ford said taking it. Stan just rolled his eyes.

They continued into the office where various papers were scattered across the desk. However, one document in particular stood out. It was four pages paper clipped together. There was a name, but it was blotted out. A few paragraphs under the name told of his medical history and reason for being admitted into the hospital. Ford read quickly through the document, his face tensed as he read how psychologically disturbed this person was.

 _I know about the Other Side. It's a place only I can see, but if you want, I can take you there._

"Okay, so I guess we're actually in a mental hospital and this is or was one of the patients," Ford said.

"Wait a minute, we said earlier that the people who live in this town probably just left," Stan began.

"Yeah, we said that," Ford answered crossly. "So what?"

"So, does that include mental patients? I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on the idea of a bunch of crazy people running around, all drugged up or whatever."

"Well, they can't be worse than the monsters. I guess we'll deal with that when it happens."

Ford put the report back onto the desk. He tried the door on the other side of the room; the door didn't budge.

"Okay, can't get into there."

"What happened to that guy we saw run here?" Stan wondered.

Ford looked over the map. "Well, there's a bunch of rooms just on this floor alone. We'll check this floor first, than the two above."

"This hospital only has three floors?" Stan questioned.

"Well, it's a small town," Ford pointed out.

"So, which room are we checking first?"

"The director's office is next door. Let's check that first."

Through the dim lit hallway, the brothers made their way over to a tiny office. Stan tried the door, finding it locked. When he put his ear to the door, he heard the sound of shoes clicking on the tile floor.

"Someone's in there," he said.

Ford knocked on the door.

"Hello?" he called. No answer. "You're just hearing things," he said to his brother. "Let's keep moving." He started down the hallway.

Stan ran to catch up. "I did hear something. My eyes are bad, but my ears are fine," he insisted.

Every door they came across denied them access except for one, the examination room. The two of them walked inside to see a room where a murder possibly took place. Blood covered the walls and soaked the sheets on the examination table. Ford covered his mouth and nose right away, almost gagging. The scene didn't seem to bother Stan as much. He walked over to a surgeon's lab coat, amazingly not a drop of blood on it. He reached in the pocket and pulled out a key, a label read _stairwell._

"Okay, I guess that's helpful," he said. Then, he saw a long object wrapped inside the coat. Stan pulled the coat off the object. He now held a shotgun in his hands.

"Yeah! This is more like it!" He held the gun out, the barrel aimed at Ford.

"What the hell are you doing? Don't point that thing at me!" he shouted.

"Relax, the safety is on." Stan looked over the top of the gun. "Oh wait," he pushed the switch on top. "Now it's on." Ford just glared at him. Stan ignored him and checked the chamber, which had five bullets. "Okay, so it's full." He looked through the coat. "No more ammo?" He tossed the coat down hastily.

"Well, you'll have to use that gun sparingly until we find some." Ford's eyes darted around the room, cautiously staring at the blood. "We're done here, right?" He headed for the door.

The brothers found the stairwell where Stan used the key. Nothing was odd about the stairwell. A number one marked the door and steps led down to the basement and up in the other direction to the second floor.

"Which way are we going?" Ford asked.

"Up. I ain't going to the basement of this place." He started up the stairs.

On the second floor, they were met with a dark corridor. Ford turned on his flashlight creating just enough light to see a few feet in front of them.

"Well, this just got creepier," Stan commented. Through a set of double doors, they found themselves in a dark corridor. They only moved passed a few rooms when static rose from the radio. At first, nothing could be seen, then...

"What—are those things?" Ford shouted. A small army of feminine looking creatures stumbled towards them. They wore blood stained nurse outfits, decaying and putrid skin peeked out of the skintight uniforms. In their hands were scalpels held out ready to cut into anything they touched. They moaned as they hobbled forward. Both men had their firearms held out. Ford was the first to shoot; ray beams tore through the first nurse. She cried out, and then fell to the ground.

"This is too much! How can these women be hot and disgusting at the same time?" Stan asked out loud.

"I never understand your mind, Stanley," Ford answered shooting another nurse. "Are you going to help me?"

Stan aimed the shotgun at one of the nurses and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through her. One shot took her down.

"At least they're easy," he said. Just as he said that, two came at him from the side, pushing him against the wall. His gun got pushed into him so he couldn't aim it. "Get off me you bitches!" Stan screamed. Ford turned and shot the closest nurse. Two more nurses charged at him, pushing him into the wall. He tried to aim his gun, but it got pinned behind him as one nurse pulled his arm behind him. He felt his arm twist around until the searing pain tore up his arm to his shoulder. Suddenly, he kneed the nurse causing her to cry out in an inhuman groan as she fell to the ground. With the free hand, he shot her, then shot the one attacking Stan. The old man watched in horror as she fell to the ground and convulsed like crazy. He kicked at her until she stopped.

The static on the radio stopped. Now with the hallway cleared, they moved to the first room. Ford tried the door, but it didn't budge. The next one down the hall responded the same way.

"Are we really checking every room?" Stan asked, annoyed.

"Why not?" Ford asked with as much annoyance in his voice. "I don't see what the problem is and most of these doors don't open anyway."

"Are they locked?" Stan asked further. Ford tried turning the doorknob in front of him. It felt lose. It was broken.

"I don't know. It doesn't really matter."

"Well, why don't we just kick the door in?"

"I'm not going to waste my time," Ford gave the simple answer.

The only door that opened was at the very end of the hallway. Inside was a simple hospital room with one bed by the right wall and a nightstand next to it. On the bed was a piece of paper with typed letters. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a doctor's report. As Ford read through it, it became clear that the phrase, 'the other side' meant a lot more.

 _The potential for this illness exists in all people and, under the right circumstances, any man or woman would be driven, like him to "the other side."_

 _The "other side" perhaps may not be the best way to phrase it. After all, there is no wall between here and there. It lies on the borders where reality and unreality intersect. It is a place both close and distant. Some say it isn't even an illness. I cannot agree with them. I'm a doctor, not a philosopher or even a psychiatrist. But sometimes I have to ask myself this question. It's true that to us his imaginings are nothing but the inventions of a busy mind. But to him, there simply is no other reality. Furthermore he is happy there. So why, I ask myself, why in the name of healing him must we drag him painfully into the world of our own reality?_

"This patient who mentions the 'other side' was diagnosed or at least the doctor tried to diagnosis him, but they couldn't even determine if it was an illness he had," Ford explained.

Stan shrugged. "Why do we care about this?"

"I'm just trying to understand why this report is in here. It seems like such a random place."

"Hey, how about we just look for that guy that came in here," Stan spoke hastily.

The two brothers made their way over to the elevator next. The button was pressed, but nothing happened. There was a sign next to it reading, 'emergency elevator.'

"Oh, this elevator isn't going to work."

"Hey Genius, I don't think any elevator is going to work, because we're missing something called electricity."

Ford shot his brother a sharp glare, but he realized he was right.

"Okay, so, back to the stairs I guess."

It didn't take long to reach the third floor. Ford opened the door, holding tightly onto his gun. Stan readied his weapon. They walked into the hallway. Static blared from the radio. Down the hall, a few nurses stumbled around, but weren't coming towards them.

"Let's go down this way first," Ford said pointing in the opposite direction

from the nurses.

"Shouldn't we just get rid of them?" Stan asked. "I mean, we can sneak up on them like we did in the apartment building."

"I don't know how many of them there are. I only see two of them, but they're may be more. Let's just go the other way first."

Stan was about to rebuttal, but Ford was already walking the way he wanted to go. Stan grunted as he followed.

The only thing they found was the main elevator, which of course wasn't working. To the right was a short hallway leading to another door.

"Geez, there's a lot of ground to cover in this place," Stan said as they went through the door.

"Yeah, good thing there's only three floors, right?"

There were three doors in the room. Ford tried to open the first one, but it was locked.

"Are these padded rooms?" Stan asked.

"Padded rooms?" Ford asked.

"Yeah. This is a mental hospital. They have those."

Ford was able to open the second door and it was indeed a padded room. Ford looked back at his brother. "How did you know?"

"I've seen these before," Stan answered.

Ford's eye popped wide open. "What? When?"

"I sort of uh—went though a mental breakdown—" Stan turned his eye away from his twin. "Running a business can be really stressful."

"So, you've—been in a mental hospital?" Ford asked further.

"Uh, yeah—" Stan didn't saying anything else and Ford didn't push the topic.

The tiny room appeared empty at first. However, there was a lump under the floor. Ford bent down to inspect it.

"Whoa! Wait, be careful," Stan warned. Ford moved a small tarp that was oddly the same color as the floor. Under it was a hard cover book...no, not just a book. He squinted at the maroon cover with a golden six-fingered hand and the number one in the middle.

"Am I—really seeing this?"

"What is it?" Stan asked. Ford picked up the book, just looking it over, trying to understand what he saw. Stan finally got a look at it.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked slowly.

"It's impossible! All the journals were destroyed. How—" There was no way Ford could figure it out right now. His head spun too fast when he tried. He shoved the journal into his trench coat. "Let's keep moving."

Returning to hallway, the two brothers moved towards the doors leading to the hospital rooms. The static came through the speakers of the radio. Through the darkness, the nurses were seen stumbling about. It appeared as if the were moving around in circles.

"I only see two of them," Ford said.

"That's what I said earlier," Stan replied a bit annoyed.

Ford shot the first nurse while Stan got the other one. Both nurses fell down, sputtering a moment, before falling silent.

"Oh Geez, that was so hard," Stan said sarcastically. "And we didn't do this earlier because?"

"Alright, enough already!" Ford harshly returned. He put a hand on the doorknob leading into the next area.

The flashlight illuminated the few feet in front of the siblings. No static came from the radio at the moment. None of the doors they tried opened. Something about the air was very unsettling. As the two brothers moved further down, it became harder to breathe. Finally, they got to the end of the hallway.

"None of these doors opened. In fact, it looks like they were just painted to the walls. What gives?" Stan protested.

Ford turned towards the wall, the light from his pocket flashlight shined on some letters.

 _SID PSIDS VPQMC BVBHUR_

"What's this?" he wondered. The letters didn't spell words, but the more Ford studied them, the more he understood what it was. He took out the journal. Inside it was the same type of writing. It was his writing, a way of putting important information in code.

"This is strange," he admitted.

"What does it mean?" Stan inquired.

"Give me a minute," his brother said. He took a pen from the pocket in his trench coat. He was quietly writing for a few long moments. He stood there, furrowing his brow, and making disapproving groans.

"Can't figure it out?" Stan asked.

"Of course I can figure it out!" Ford raged. "I wrote these types of codes all the time!"

Stan leaned against the wall waiting for his brother to break the code. It was then he noticed how much blood was on his white shirt.

"Damn, these stains are never coming out." He moved away from the wall, leaving some blood on the wall. A pattern could be seen under the red, wet substance, no, more like letters. Stan smothered more blood across the wall to see words forming.

"'Take a left, then right, left, right...' What the hell does that mean?"

"What are you doing, Stanley?" Ford asked. He looked at the words forming from the behind the bloody wall. "Did you do this?" he pointed at the words.

Stan shrugged. "It came off of my shirt."

Ford looked at the letters he was trying to decode. "Oh, I got it. He hurried and decoded the letters.

"So, what is it?" Stan asked impatiently.

Suddenly sirens blared through the hallway. The sound pierced their ears, causing both of them to crumbled to the floor holding their heads.

"God! Not again! What the hell is this?!" Stan screamed.

"I don't know!" Ford yelled back. "It feels like something is drilling a hole into my head!"

Blood fell down walls and fire burned the ceiling and floor. Blue flames circled the brothers, then engulfed them entirely.


	5. Chapter 5: The Fourth Floor

**A/N: Hello,**

 **Firstly, I edited some of the grammatical errors I found in this chapter. Secondly, I did one of those code things in the last chapter. I wanted to let everyone figure out how to solve it before I explained how to do it. If you don't want to know, you can just skip this part and go to the story.**

 **So, here's how to solve it. Move right one for the first letter. S = T Then move left one. I=H. Then move right. D=E. Keep moving one left, than one right and so forth.**

Chapter 5: The Fourth Floor

The fire died down, but it took Stan a moment to realize it. He still screamed, rolling around, trying to smoother the flames even though they were already gone.

"Stanley! Get a hold of yourself!" Ford yelled as he grabbed his twin's shoulders and shook him. Stan stopped screaming and looked down to see the fire was gone. He held his chest as if he expected a heart attack, but after a moment, he felt fine.

"What the hell was all that?" he shouted. His question went unanswered. The siblings took in the new area. It was strange that they even considered being some place new when they didn't physically move anywhere. The floor, walls and ceiling changed from concrete to metal grates. Their eyes followed bars running up to the ceiling creating a triangular prison around them.

"Oh great, now we're trapped in this—pyramid?" Stan looked around. "A-are we in a cage?" He clenched his teeth, staring around with wide eyes. Ford looked around too. He almost began to panic too, but then saw a ladder by the wall. Next to the ladder were the words, _THE OTHER WORLD AWAITS._

"The ladder is the only place to go," he said.

"Whatever, let's just go! It can't get worse than this!" Stan cried out as he started to climb.

When they reached the top, they found themselves on an entirely new floor. Some walls were dripping with blood while others were on fire. The smell of burning flesh whirled in the air.

"Forget it! Let's go back down!" Stan yelled. Just as he said that, the ladder broke and fell down into a hole."Or not!"

"Guess we should keep going," Ford said moving on ahead.

"How are you so nonchalant about all of this?" his horrified brother asked.

Ford shrugged. "Did you forget I was in another dimension for thirty years where I faced stuff like this all the time?"

"Yeah, but still— Wait a minute! Are you finally talking about what you saw on the other side of that portal?" Stan asked, now fully engaged in whatever his twin had to say. Ford became silent. Stan still pushed the topic. "When you say you faced stuff like this? You mean, weird monsters and changing scenery?" Ford didn't respond. Stan let out a heavy sigh. "You know, it would be nice if you'd just talk about it."

Ford stopped in his tracks and turned around towards his brother. "Why?" he asked with great irritation in his voice. "It doesn't matter!"

"It might if this town resembles what you saw over there."

"Not really. I'm actually more concerned about where this place is on the map." Ford took out the map of the hospital. "There are only three floors on this map. We were on the floor above the third floor, which should be the roof, but we're obviously not on the roof."

"Well, maybe the map is wrong. Or we just went into another dimension."

Those last words caught Ford off guard. "What would just make us go into another dimension? Maybe those sirens trigger it—but that doesn't make sense."

Stan looked out at the hallway before them. "So, I guess that's the only direction we can go?"

The brothers moved at a fast pace across the grating, which sounded as if it might break under the weight of their feet. The hallway stretched on forever. There weren't any doors like before, just rectangular shapes on the walls, which didn't serve any purpose. Further down the hall, the grating parted in some places leaving holes in the floor. Bars lined the walls, and it appeared like they were still trapped inside a big triangular cage.

As they took their next steps, they heard a shrill laugh from behind them. The laugh sounded very familiar to their ears. Suddenly, a giant pyramid shaped spider sprung up through the hole in the floor. It stood on eight black legs. Leathery and bloody skin covered its body. In the next moment, the brothers drew their guns, shooting at the monstrosity. Unfortunately, the bullets had the same effect as they did on the pyramid creature with the long blade; they just bounced off the creature.

"Let's just get out of here!" Stan yelled as he ran in the opposite direction. Ford was right behind him. They ran through a labyrinth of bars. The brothers quickly turned corners at the same time, dodging the spider's leg swipes. Up ahead was the elevator with doors wide open. The two jumped through the doors before the spider grabbed them. The doors closed, and then with a sudden jerk, the elevator descended.

"God! I'm frickin' done with this place!" Stan screamed.

"I'm incline to agree with you," Ford replied. "Maybe we made a mistake coming here."

Stan spun around with his face scrunched up in disgust. "Ya think?" He pointed a finger at his twin. "I was fine with going with you to the Artic and helping you contain the anomalies, but then we came here and—" Stan lowered his hand. "Do you really think these things are anomalies like the others you've studied? These—I don't know—horrifying delusional nightmares!"

All of the sudden, something landed hard on top of the elevator. They heard pounding above them. Sharp black blades pieced through the metal, coming down at the twins. They both backed up against the wall with their guns aimed upwards. The blades sliced down through the ceiling of the elevator again. They barely dodged the attack. Looking up through the damaged elevator they saw the spider. Shooting like crazy, the bullets finally did some damage, piecing the skin underneath the monster. It jumped and climbed back up the shaft. The elevator gave a big jolt as it landed.

The doors opened, pouring them into complete darkness. Even with the flashlight, it hardly penetrated the black void. Ford shinned the light towards the wall. He suddenly gasped and backed further into the elevator.

"What is it?" Stan asked with a shaky voice.

"Those symbols on the wall—" he responded. "I remember seeing them in that nightmare dimension."

"Nightmare dimension? You mean _THIS_ isn't the nightmare dimension?" Ford didn't answer as he slowly walked into the hallway. "Hey! Are you going to answer me?" Stan asked, becoming more irritated.

"There's a door over here," he said, not paying any attention. Ford opened the door and poked his head into the large room with rows of items placed neatly on shelving units. "Hmm, it's actually organized in here." Stan followed him inside.

Many medicine bottles lined the shelves. One in particular stood out, a white bottle among the gray, brown and black ones. Ford took it and read the label. _White Claudia._ He opened it to find a white powder inside. There was a sweet odor to it, almost like incents.

"What are you messing with?" Stan intervened. Ford turned with a careless expression.

"Not messing with anything. I've just never seen this type of medicine before." Stan looked at the bottle.

"Isn't one of your PhDs in medicine?"

Ford shook his head. "Strange enough, no. I took some classes that concentrated on health or the human anatomy but that's it.

"Why are you so interested in that bottle?" By this point, Ford was opening the other bottles. "Well, for one, I've never seen a powder like that unless it was—

well, you can guess what white powder might be. Second, all of the rest of these are empty."

"Who would keep empty medicine bottles? And if you're thinking the white stuff is Crack or Cocaine or something, I can tell you in a second if it is."

Ford rolled his eyes as he handed Stan the bottle. "I shouldn't be surprised at this point."

Stan put the bottle to his nose. "This sort of smells like those scented candles." He pulled the substance away from his face. "Oh God! It's smells like that Hippie's van!"

"What Hippie?"

"This guy I knew who stole my girlfriend! It was back in the day—"

The conversation was abruptly interrupted as metal scraping along the floor outside the room pierced their ears. Stan cracked the door open a sliver to see the yellow triangle monster walking from the elevator into the hallway. They withdraw, quietly closing the door.

"Oh God! It's going to come in here!" Stan wailed. Ford turned to the shelving unit closest to them.

"Help me push this against the door." The two brothers were on either side, pushing the large metal shelf. Bottles fell and broke; causing all sorts of noise, but at this point neither one of them cared. The unit fell over, hitting the door just as it began to open. The plan worked; the doorway was blocked. The twins waited in silence. Then, a few loud pounds hit the door. Both men grabbed their guns. They heard the scraping again, but it grew faint as the monster left the area.

After a moment of holding their breath, the brothers sighed with relief as they lowered their weapons. However, they now realized they trapped themselves in the storeroom.

"So, Genius, how are we getting out of this?" Stan asked cynically.

Ford turned, narrowing his eyes. "Why do I have to come up with everything?"

"Gee, I don't know! Cause you're the smart one! Because this was your stupid mission!" Ford stomped forward with balled fists as he glared at his brother. "Go ahead! I dare you to hit me!"

Ford shook his head. "What's the point? We won't get anywhere if we keep fighting."

"Fine. I'll find a way out," Stan said as he headed to the back of the room.

Stan noticed the shelving unit leaned onto the back wall. Looking down, he saw some of the metal poles were broken. Peering between the metal shelves he swore he saw the marking of a doorframe.

"Hey, I need help moving this thing," he called to his brother. Ford walked over.

"You want to move this?" He looked over the frame of the unit. It was much larger and longer than the other one. "I don't know if we can."

"Just help me tip it over."

Ford complied and got behind at one end and Stan was at the other. Together, they pushed the entire shelving unit over, causing it to crash loudly onto the floor.

"I bet we've woken the dead up nine times by now," Stan said.

Ford looked at the chiseling of a large rectangle in the wall. There wasn't a door handle, but rather a small hole in the middle.

"It's not a door, Stanley," he said calmly. He looked through the hole to see into a larger room. He caught a glimpse of a couple of gurneys and way on the far back wall looked like a large boiler. "It doesn't look like the type of room we want to go into anyway," he said.

"I guess we'll have to move that large shelf so we can get out of here," Stan said as he subconsciously rubbed the back of his head. Ford put his fingers inside the hole and tried to pull. When that didn't work, he tried pushing on the drywall. Suddenly, part of the wall cracked.

"I think we can break through here," he said.

Stan looked at the crack in the wall. He adjusted the brass knuckle on his right hand.

"Okay, stand back." Ford did as Stan delivered a hard punch into the wall. His fist broke right through the drywall, creating a big enough hole for them to step through. "Just like when we were kids," he said remembering how he broke the boards that were nailed across the cave at the beach where he and Ford frequently played as children.

The light from the flashlight in Ford's trench coat pocket lit up a small section of the room. Six gurneys sat lined up, three on one side and three on the other. Another elevator sat adjacent from them.

"Oh finally! A way out!" Stan rushed over to what he believed was sanctuary. However, when he pushed the button, the elevator did not respond. Then he saw a keyhole. "Oh come on! We need a key?"

Ford noticed some writing on the iron cover of the cremator. They were symbols he learned from Physics. Some were basic, while others were more advanced.

"Oh, this again." He got out a piece of paper. "At least these are more of a challenge." Stan walked over.

"Why does this town care about our math skills?"

"More like it wants to challenge mine," Ford responded.

After a moment, he had an answer. "Okay, so now what?" Stan's eyes fell on the some red markings, probably blood, formed numbers on the white sheets covering the gurneys.

"Maybe you're supposed to figure out the answer and there's a prize under one of these sheets."

"Okay, what's the point of this?" Ford fumed.

"To drive us insane, obviously! This town seems to like to mess with our heads."

"Am I supposed to do something else?" Ford wondered.

"Hey, I just noticed that all of these sheets on numbers on them," Stan told him.

Ford looked at each one, 7, 14, 24, 38, 62, and 70. However, the answer he got was 17. "What am I doing wrong?" he wondered.

He went through the equation again. He looked at the iron cover. Maybe he translated it wrong?

Stan watched his brother struggle. It was interesting since Ford never had a problem like this before.

"Are you actually having a hard time solving a math problem?" Stan asked raising his eyebrows. Ford furrowed his own brow, getting confused and annoyed.

"Try doing it backwards," Stan suggested.

"Backwards? Why would it be—" Ford sighed as he tried it. After writing the equation the other way, he solved it again. He looked at his answer, 7. He looked at the gurney with the number sprawled onto the white sheet. "Am I s-supposed to pull the thing off?" He was suddenly horrified, looking at the lump underneath.

"You want me to do it?" Stan asked. Ford nodded and let his brother take over. Stan placed a hand on the sheet, closed his eyes and pulled. He slowly opened them to see an empty bed, well almost empty. A key lay on the pillow.

"Are you freakin kidding me!" he cried out. He grabbed the key and stomped over to the elevator. He inserted and turned the key, seeing the button glow and hearing a ding.

"You know, we could have just pulled off all the sheets on the gurneys," Ford said. "It would have been a lot easier."

"Then, why didn't you?" Stan challenged.

"I didn't want to see what was under them. I didn't know we'd find a key."

The brothers stood in the quiet room. Suddenly a faint voice called out.

"Stanley— Stanford— is that you?" Both brothers turned to the gurney with the number 62 on it.

"T-that sounded like m—" Ford broke off. He covered his mouth. Tears welled up in his eyes. Both brothers knew their mother was dead and neither one of them attended her funeral. Ford didn't because he was in another dimension and Stan didn't because he couldn't blow his cover while pretending to be his brother.

All at once, they ran into the elevator. The doors couldn't close quickly enough.

 **N/A: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave a comment.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: History Lesson

**A/N: Hello,**

 **I'm back with another chapter. I'm in the middle of writing three stories, so I'll be posting chapters for each one. I'm working on posting more regularly. Hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave a review and make suggestions if necessary.**

Chapter 6: History Lesson

When the elevator doors opened again, the twins entered the hospital's lobby.

"Are we still in that nightmare place?" Stan asked fearfully.

He glanced around the area. Everything appeared normal again with concrete walls and ceiling and tiled floor.

"I have no idea," Ford replied.

They rounded the corner, standing in front of the director's office.

"Last time, this door was locked," Stan said. He tried the door, which actually opened.

Inside the office, a man in his late thirties sat at the desk. His plain blue sweater matched well with his nice black pants. He looked up at the two, noticing their presence.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here," he said in a pleasant tone.

"Who the hell are you?" Stan asked.

The man opened his eyes wide, stunned by the outburst. "My name is Joseph and I'm just doing a little research."

Usually, someone like Ford understood the importance of research, but this was hardly the time or the place.

"Why here? Why right now? This place isn't safe."

"Oh? What's wrong with it?" Joseph asked innocently.

"What do you mean, what's wrong with it?" Stan yelled. "How about it being full of monsters!"

Joseph squint his eyes, then his face brightened again. "Oh, I see, you're just joking." He laughed. "The people here in Silent Hill aren't that bad. Yes, they kind of keep to themselves, but I can hardly blame them. This is a tourist town and a lot of the locals get tired of all the noise." He closed the book and put it back onto the shelf.

"Look, we don't know anything about this town," Ford said. Joseph turned to him.

"Then, maybe you want to take a trip to the Silent Hill Historical Museum. You can learn everything you want about the town there. Here," he placed an old fashion key, the color of jade onto the desk. "I happen to have a spare key. You can have it," he said before turning back to the bookshelf.

Ford looked at one of the books on the desk. _Human Anatomy._

"So, you must work as a doctor here?" Ford asked.

The man turned with his mouth curved into an earnest smile. "Oh, I'm not a doctor, but I do like their work. They get to do so many amazing things." He made a cutting motion with his arm. "They can go into a body and take out things or put things into a person and make them a better human being."

"Oh boy! Don't tell us you like cutting into people," Stan said with a disgusted tone.

The man let out a strange high pitch chuckle. "You make it sound like I'm a psycho. I'm just interested in how the human body works. Is that really wrong?"

"No, of course not," Ford replied. "I've never wanted to be in the medical field, but it's great you do. I'm sure you'll help a lot of people." He turned to his brother. "Come on, let's leave this guy alone."

Emerging from the morbid hospital, they hoped for better scenery. However, the sun had set long ago, leaving a dark street ahead of them.

"There is something definitely wrong with that guy in there," Stan said.

"Yes, he doesn't seem well in the head. We need to find a person that's more, well—sane."

"If that's possible," Stan added.

Ford took out the map of the town.

"We need to go to Nathan Avenue," he said. They began walking down the abandoned road.

"You know, something just occurred to me," Stan began. "That guy said his name is Joseph. Didn't you read something about a Joseph being a mental patient in that hospital?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't think it's the same guy, though. From what I read from the report, that Joseph is a very disturbed person and wouldn't be allowed to roam freely."

"Think it's just a coincidence, huh? Well, I wouldn't take anything so lightly while we're in this town."

"Right. But, there has to be a reason this town is like this. I know one thing. You and I are more than capable of learning why this place is messed up like this."

Stan nodded. "Yeah. And we will."

Finally, they found the street where the historical museum stood. It was too quiet for Stan's tastes, so he tried to start another conversation.

"Listen, I hope one day you can talk to me about what happened to you during your time on the other side of the portal."

Ford froze in his tracks, keeping his head down. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Stan flung his hands into the air. "It can't be as bad as this place!"

Ford looked up at his twin. "Those years—I changed while I was trapped over there. There were times I wanted to just—give up."

"What do you mean by 'give up?'" Stan asked with a quivering voice. Ford kept a solemn stare on his brother. His forlorn eyes said it all. Stan took a step back.

"You—thought of taking your l—" he couldn't finish. It knew it was his fault too that Ford went into the portal. "I'm sorry,"

His brother shook his head. "Everything is fine now. But I just don't want—"

"—You don't have to talk about it." Stan interrupted.

As they continued down the road, their eyes caught a glimpse of a large brightly colored sign advertising, "Lakeside Amusement Park."

"Hey, we should go there instead," Stan said.

"Uh, don't you have a heart condition that would prevent you from going on the rides?"

"Whatever! Like I'd let that stop me!"

Ford sighed. "I wouldn't trust that place anyway," he said as he continued walking.

Up ahead, they saw the old building ahead with a sign that read, _Silent Hill Historical Museum._ Stan used the key and opened the old fashion decorated door. Inside, they walked into the entranceway, passing the service counter. Broken glass lay out across the floor. It cracked under their feet as they continued into the first room. Many paintings hung in the first room. One was an old photograph of a middle-aged man. Under the photo was a plague that read _Founder of Silent Hill._

Stan grimaced at the picture of the man.

"Your town sucks!" Stan yelled.

Ford looked over at what his brother was yelling at. "You're yelling at inanimate objects now?"

"This thing says this guy is the founder of this crap town. I'm letting him know what I think of it!"

Ford laughed lightly. "I would have to agree with you on that one." The other pictures on the wall were also interesting. One was a picture of Brookhaven, the hospital they just visited. Another showed a crew of coal miners. Under it, read _Silent Hill 1890._

"This was a coal mining town?" Stan asked.

"I guess so," Ford replied looking over his shoulder.

The last picture was of the medical hospital of the town. _Achemelia Hospital._

"I'm done looking at old pictures. Let's see what else there is," Stan said.

Ford nodded and they headed through a set of double doors into the next room.

On the wall was a giant painting of a strange figure holding a spear and distorted figures trapped in rectangular cages. Words below read, Misty _Day: Remains of the Judgment._

"What is that thing?" Ford asked, a bit horrified.

"That 'thing' looks like the thing that's been coming after us. This thing has a red pyramid helmet, instead of a yellow triangle head.

Ford grabbed his head. "Wait, yellow triangle—why are you saying that?"

Stan narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? I'm just describing it."

"Stanley, you said, 'triangle'—reminds me of – 'him' and what he tried to do to all of us."

Stan understood right away. "He's gone Ford, okay?" Ford looked up and nodded. Walking across the room, Stan found a large hole in the brick wall.

"Let's see what's down here," he said, peering into the darkness.

"Wow! What made you so brave all of the sudden?" his brother asked as he followed.

"I just—I don't know. I think I understand what you meant when you said you already saw the worst, so nothing else fazes you anymore."

"That's not quite what I said, but close enough."

As they descended the staircase, a loud horn blared in the distance.

"Where is that horn coming from?"

"I don't know. We are by a lake, but no one is on it, right?"

Further down, and even further still, more steps appeared.

"Are we almost there? My knees can't take this much more," Stan complained.

"We're definitely going underground," Ford confirmed.

Finally, the staircase plateaued and a door was straight ahead. The brothers rested for a moment, just studying the door.

"You're scared to open it, aren't you?" Ford asked.

"S-Shut it! I am not! I'm just resting. That was a lot of freakin' steps."

Stan put a hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. On the other side of the door was a small room, one that resembled a jail cell. Stan suddenly backed up.

"Are you kidding me?! No! Forget this!" He turned and looked back up the staircase.

"Stanley, there's really nowhere else to go. It'll be okay."

"How the hell do you know?"

Ford put a hand on his shoulder. "We're in this together. Don't worry. I won't leave you alone."

Stan stared solemnly at his twin. "You promise?"

"Yes. This time, I mean it."

Ford easily opened the cell door and they walked into a short hallway toward another door.

"Where does this go?" Stan muttered as he opened it in the same manner as the last. They walked into a room with a giant hole in the middle of the floor.

"Just when I think there's nothing left to shock me—" Ford began.

"So, what? A-are we supposed to jump in?" Stan wondered.

"I think that would be really insane for us to just to jump into a random hole," Ford answered.

Suddenly, metal scraping along the floor erupted from behind them. They turned just at the pyramid monster swung his blade, sending it right into Ford's right shoulder. Blood squirted as he cried out in pain.

"Oh my God!" Stan cried out as he reached for Ford's out-stretched hand.

Stan watched helplessly as his brother fell into the hole. He whirled around with his gun ready to shoot the fiend, but it was gone.

"Get back here you coward!" he yelled. He turned back to the hole. "What do I do?"

With no other option, he jumped in after his brother.


	7. Chapter 7: My Own Prison

Chapter 7: My Own Prison

Stan groaned as he sat up. He wondered how he was still alive. Looking up, he expected to see the hole he just fell into, but instead, he saw bars. His eyes flipped around to find himself in a triangular shaped cage.

"What the hell?" he let out in panic. "Ford!" he called desperately. No reply. He slowly began to realize that he was alone. "What is up with these stupid cages?" At first, it appeared as if he were trapped inside a small space, but as he walked forward, the cage began to stretch out. Stan continued putting one foot in front of the other. Thankfully, he still had his gun. He gripped tightly onto the magnum, pulling it out of its holster.

Rounding the first corner, he looked down a long dark hallway. The deafening sound of silence was painful. As he took his next step, static suddenly filled the area. Stan walked forward; his foot kicked something, sending it skidding across the floor. It was too dark to see what he kicked, but the static led him to the object. Through a doorway and into a dimly lit bathroom, the static still went crazy. Stan cursed his cataracts that made it nearly impossible to see whatever was making that sound. Finally, he saw light coming from a flashlight, which shined on the rectangular shaped radio on the center of the floor. If he had better vision like his brother did, he would have seen it right away.

Stan picked up the radio. His brother was the one who felt a need to keep this thing around in the first place. Then a horrible thought crept into his head. Ford was the one carrying it and now it was here and he was not. His thoughts dwelled on Ford and panic began to take over. What happened to him? Was he still ali— No, he wasn't going to think that way. Ford was okay. He just needed to find him. His priority now was to find his brother no matter what. Stan tucked the radio into his jacket. Its funny that he was the one who told Ford to leave it behind back when they were at the apartments, now he couldn't think about abandoning it. The sound was annoying, but it was better than the lingering sound of nothing. He put the flashlight in his coat pocket, so he could light up the path in front of him.

As Stan turned around, he saw a display of colorful artwork. The obscure gray, fat cat looked very familiar. Someone very close to him drew this. Why was the memory so scattered. It must be due to the fact that he was getting older. He shrugged and turned towards the urinals. Filth and grime covered them. Then his eyes fell on the one at the end. Blood covered the sides and filled the basin. It was a horrific sight, but he couldn't look away. Something triggered a memory inside his mind.

 _He stood in a row with other inmates of the Columbian prison. As a man in his early twenties, he was physically fit and life already made him pretty tough. However, it was his first day in this prison and he didn't know what would happen to him. He stifled his emotions as tears would earn him not only mental abuse, but physical as well. The visions of his memory went to him being locked in a cell to sitting and eating unrecognizable food to showering uncomfortably in the open in front of everyone. Images inside his mind changed... Smack! His head hit the edge of the urinal. Over and over again... Blood spilled everywhere...pouring down inside the basin..._

Stan shook his head. "I gotta get out of here," he muttered to himself.

The static continued as Stan walked carefully down the hallway. Someone walked towards him. His heart rose as he hoped it was his twin. The shadowy figure came into view. Stan's eyes widened as the 'Insane Patient' staggered toward him. He held the magnum out; when the creature was close enough, he fired a few rounds to its head. The monster fell and Stan delivered a few good kicks into its skull. His face tightened as he glared at the abomination. Strangely, he felt the satisfaction of taking out these messed up creations.

Through the next door, Stan found a row of cells. Now, this reminded him of his prison days. He hurried down the corridor, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"Stanley!" he heard a familiar voice.

Stan stopped and turned around. He saw Ford in the middle cell with his hands gripping the bars.

"Oh my God! Stanford, what the hell happened to you?"

"I—I don't know. I just woke up here."

The memory of Ford getting sliced by the huge knife popped in his mind.

"Ford, let me see your shoulder." Ford raised his eyebrows as if that shocked him.

"My shoulder?" He twisted his head either way looking at each one.

"The shoulder that jackass stabbed you in, genius," Stan said dryly.

"Stabbed me?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

Stan slapped his forehead. "You know, when we were up in the museum, we found the staircase and then the hole? That triangular headed monster struck you with its giant blade and you fell into the hole!"

"Stanley, I don't know what you're talking about. Can you just get me out of here?"

Stan tried to open the cell door, but it was obviously locked. He shook his head. "How?"

"There should be a key. Maybe in the warden's office?"

"How do you know there's a warden's office?" Stan asked.

Ford narrowed his eyes. "We're in a prison. Every prison has a warden's office. Shouldn't someone like you know that?"

Stan stood back. "Geez! Chill the hell out! I'll find it, just—wait here." Ford crossed his arms and leaned against the adjacent wall.

Stan felt a little brushed off as he started down the corridor again to the other side. Through the next door, Stan found himself back in the weird cage. He looked up at where the bars peeked into the triangular shape. The more he studied the structure of this cage, the more it felt familiar. Why? When was he in a triangular shaped cage? He pushed the thought out of his mind. He had to find the office where he would hopefully find a key. Deep in his thoughts, Stan wasn't paying attention as his foot went forward over nothing. Stan cried out as his fell forward. His hand reached out and grabbed something metal, a ladder. He regained his balance and turned his head to see the hole he hung over.

"Goddamn it!" he chastised himself for not learning his lesson to be more careful. With nowhere else to go, he climbed down.

At the bottom of the ladder a few feet of water covered him up to his knees.

"Seriously! What is this shit?" he grumbled. He treaded through the water. He heard splashing around the corner. As he made the turn, he saw three Insane Patients roaming about. "Don't these guys have anything better to do?" One saw him and charged, shooting out acid from its mouth. Luckily, Stan was too far away for it to make contact. Stan didn't waste time as he fired rounds into all three monsters. Two lay dead, but one scattered away under the water. Stan ran passed it and toward the other wall where he found another ladder. Quickly, he climbed up.

When he reached the top, Stan was overly excited to see what appeared to be an office. Broken glass lay on the floor in front of a window where he could see a comfy looking chair and many monitors showing various parts of the prison. Stan tried the door, which was locked. He shrugged.

"Through the window, I guess," he said as he climbed through. Actually, he put one foot through the window, then lost his balance and fell over into the office. He slowly made it to his feet.

"Okay, looking for a key—" His eyes searched around and landed on the monitors. As he watched, he started seeing people in uniforms walking through the hallways. "Wait, are there people here?" The guards in uniform did their rounds while the prisoners rotted away in their cells. Then Stan saw himself with someone he once called a friend. Rico, the man who loaned him money for his failed businesses. He saw Rico with his hand on his shoulder, promising they would get out and then find wealth beyond their dreams. Suddenly, the scene changed. Rico had both hands on Stan slamming him into the urinal. He swore at Stan in Spanish to which he understood every word.

"You're filth! Nothing you do will ever be worth anything!" It angered Stan as that man had no right to say any of that to him. But as Stan watched, he saw the Puerto Rican man change. Suddenly, Stan saw his father, his hands on him, tossing him out of the house. "Until you make that kind of money, you aren't welcome in this house anymore!"

"Shut up! I did make the money you asshole! You just died before I could show you!" Stan suddenly realized he was shouting. The screen showed static and then switched off. Stan felt his cheeks grow hot as he suddenly felt embarrassed. Then the embarrassment grew as he suddenly saw a key hanging on a hook to the right of the monitors. He took it and exited the office.

"Back down the ladder and into the marsh," he said.

He stood in the water.

His feelings were all over the place. Why were memories of the past coming up now? He could care less about his father right now. He had Ford and that's all he needed. He just needed to get the stupid genius out of that cell.

Stan walked a few feet. He suddenly heard someone else's footsteps. More of those stupid straightjacket creatures, he figured. He readied his gun. However, when he turned the corner, he saw a very tall, imposing figure standing before him. His eyes widened at the sight of the long blade held by the giant figure with the yellowish pyramid for his head.

"Holy fuckin' Hell!" he screamed as he backed up. He shot at the pyramid head, only to have each bullet bounce off of it. The pyramid man walked slowly towards him, obviously not seeing him as a threat. He raised his great knife and swung. Stan ducked as the edge of the blade skidded across the concrete wall behind him. In desperation, Stan lunged at the behemoth, delivering a punch with one brass knuckle into the side of what he concluded would be his jaw. The monster actually stumbled backward. Stan took the opportunity to grab part of the knife handle, shoving the end of it into the creature's face. He did it again and again until the pyramid man fell to one knee. Stan managed to rip the knife from its grip, and then he swung hard, sending the blade into the stomach of the pyramid man. The monster fell onto his blade then lay still. Breathing heavily, Stan stared at the monstrosity. His mouth curved up into a big toothy grin.

"That's what you get for messing with Stan Pines you pyramid headed shmuck!" He breathed more heavy breaths. "I can't wait to tell Ford I took this guy out!" He raced to the other side of the watery labyrinth and climbed up the ladder.

Stan raced back into the corridor of cells where he left Ford. He ran toward the cell with a big smile plastered on his face.

"Ford! I did it! I took out that pyramid asshole!" He used the key to open the door. "Ford!" But his brother wasn't there. Stan stood alone in an empty cell. His eyes scanned the cell wildly. "What the hell? Ford?" No one was there. Stan was on his own once again.


	8. Chapter 8: A Wheel Of Destiny

Chapter 8: A Wheel Of Destiny

Minutes passed as Stan stood silently in the cell. He had to open the cell door with the key so he knew that Ford couldn't have just left. _Maybe he's invisible?_ A thought entertained. _That's stupid!_ His logical mind responded. On the floor was a hard cover book. Picking it up, he read the title, _Ghost Stories and Old_ Towns.Was Ford reading this? He was always reading regardless of the current situation. Stan read through the first page. It basically was a story about people leaving on a tour boat that went across Toluca Lake. It never came back... An interesting story, but it didn't help him right now.

His glance moved to an engraved symbol on the wall. Actually, there were many symbols on the wall all carved in a circle. In the center of the circle was triangle with weird symbols inside of it. The outside circle had distinguished marking: a question mark, a bag of ice, a pine tree, glasses, llama, shooting star, star with an eye in the center, a heart, a hand and what looked like a fish. The hand and fish were the symbols that really stuck out.

"What the hell is this?" Stan wondered out loud. Stan scratched the top of his head. Something felt off. Didn't he usually wear a hat? _Yeah_ , he answered his thoughts. _I wore the black cap when me and Ford were on the boat. So what?_

 _No,_ A distance voice inside his head spoke. _You used to wear something else...something that meant a lot to you._ Stan shook his head. "I don't have time for this! I gotta find Ford." He looked over the wall marking some more. He put his hand on the symbol of the hand on the wall. His hand didn't fit it; there were six fingers on the hand on the wall. His brother was the only person he knew with six fingers. Then he touched the fish. Nothing happened. Of course, why would something happen? However, staring at these symbols began stirring emotions deep within him. A memory flashed inside his head.

 _Stanley! Stanley! We need you!" he heard his brother shout._

 _You really think this is going to stop Him?_

 _Dang it old man, now's not the time._

 _What are you doing?_

 _Yeah, you're going to ruin it!_

Stan glared at the marking. Why was he getting so upset?

 _Between me and him, I'm not always the bad twin._ Stan heard himself say.

 _Between him and me,_ His brother corrected him.

God! Ford and his nitpick with stupid things like grammar.

"Shut up! Who cares?!" Stan yelled as he punched the center of the wall. The drywall crumbled away. He punched it again and more debris fell. He saw something metal. He continued throwing punches until all the drywall crumbled, revealing a door.

"Okay, let's see what's behind door number one." He put his hand on the doorknob. "Will I get a nice surprise or get my head slammed in by a hammer?" His sarcasm was the only thing keeping him sane at the moment.

On the other side of the door was something he didn't expect. The putrid smell was first to attack his nose. The sight of corpses was next to compliment it.

"Okay, well, it could be worse, I guess."

As Stan walked further inside, he heard the unpleasant sound of something sliding around in liquid. He stopped; his eyes stared at a man with his hands inside the stomach of a cadaver. Moving around the other person, Stan got a look at his face and recognized him right away.

"Joseph?" he asked, shocking himself that he even remembered the gentleman's name. The thirty-something year old man turned around. He pulled his hands out of the dead person's stomach. Blood dripped from his hands.

"Hi there," he said casually.

"Hi there?" Stan repeated. "What the hell are you doing?"

Joseph stared with wide innocent eyes at Stan. "Oh this? I'm just doing more research. That's all."

Stan narrowed his eyes. "Research?"

"Oh, I get it. You think I'm a weirdo. I told you. I love how the human body works. I love reaching inside of them and—"

Stan interrupted with a gagging sound. "I don't want to know!" He looked at the door across the room, then back at Joseph.

"Did you see my brother come through here?"

"You mean Sixer? Yeah I saw him."

"Where did he g— What did you call him?"

"He has six fingers, right?" Joseph asked.

Stan stared hard at him. "There's nothing wrong with that!"

"Oh, of course not. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be rude. "

"Yeah, you're just a strange guy reaching inside corpses," Stan said dryly.

"It's not that different than using old taxidermy parts to make hoax displays."

Stan stood still with a partially open mouth. This guy knew more than he should.

"Your brother went through that door," Joseph said as he pointed at the double doors straight ahead. Stan stared at Joseph for a moment as he went back to digging his hands inside the cadaver. He tried to keep his stomach from turning as he quickly exited the room.

After passing through the doors, Stan was thrilled to get out of the horrible morgue. What was a place like that doing down underground? It was attached to the prison, maybe where they put prisoners after they...died.

Stan focused his eyes on the floor. Only it wasn't the floor, it was hole.

"Screw this!"

He turned around and tried to open the door just to find it locked. "No—" he barely uttered. He vigorously began pounding on the big thick wooden door.

"Joseph! Open the door!" No answer. "Joseph, stop feeling up that corpse and open the damn door!" Nothing. As he stood pounding on the door, a high pitch noise erupted from all around him. Stan covered his ears, trying to block out the sound. He became dizzy and lost all his senses of equilibrium. He lost his footing and fell backward into the hole.

The world spun as Stan slowly lifted his head. Rolling to his side, then moving to a sitting position, he gazed around the new area. He sat on soft grass; fog covered the area. Was he outside? How is that possible? Moving to his feet, Stan saw a bunch of stones sticking out of the ground. It didn't take him long to realize he was in a graveyard. Putting a hand to his face and sliding it downward, he let out a groan.

"This doesn't make any sense! Why is all of this happening?" Every gravestone he looked at was worn so he couldn't read any of the writing. Then his eyes fell on one. It was in the center of the others. Stan squinted at the writing. He slowly began to make out the letters. _Stan Pines._ At first, he thought his cataracts were playing tricks on him. He laughed.

"Is this supposed to be my grave?"

Under the name were the dates: _1950-2012_. Stan shook his head and laughed again.

"It's this stupid town messing with me again." He stood up. "I'm not falling for it!" he yelled. "You hear me you backwater dump of a town? I want out! Now!" Suddenly, sirens blared in the distance. Stan covered his ears as the sound intensified. A sharp pain tore through his brain. He screamed as he curled into a fetal position.

The cool air blew into his nose as Stan jolted awake. His vision cleared and focused on the wood dock he lay on. Sitting up, he looked over the misty lake. He stood up, feeling his knees ache. As he moved toward the edge of the dock, something else came into view. A boat made of wood with a sheet used for a sail.

There were words carved on the side: _Stan O War_. This was the boat he and Ford built; the first one when they were younger. Stan just stared at it, feeling strangely serene.

"Stanley?" A voice came from behind him. Stan turned to see his twin. He was okay! Then anger boiled from down inside his stomach. He drew back his fist and threw a hard punch across Ford's face. Ford stumbled back.

"What the hell?!" he cried out. He looked up at Stan's hard eyes as he grabbed his shoulders. Then they softened and Stan embraced him.

"Have you lost your mind?" he asked Stan who gave him a solemn stare.

"Where the hell did you go?" Stan suddenly burst. "I came back to the cell to get you out and you were gone!" Stan moved away from his twin. "You son of bitch!" He wiped a few tears from his eyes. Ford just stared at him. "Don't you realize I care about you?!" Stan's eyes stayed on the ground.

"I-I'm sorry, Stanley," Ford responded sheepishly. "You were taking a long time and then I saw this symbol on the wall. It was another puzzle and when I figured it out, I found an exit."

"You mean that circle and a triangle in the middle?" Ford nodded. "What did you think about those drawings in the circle?" Stan asked slowly.

"I admit they felt familiar somehow. However, I'm not entirely sure what they mean." Stan sighed.

Both brothers turned toward the boat.

Ford spoke first. "Is that—?"

"Yeah. Looks like it," Stan answered.

"What is it doing here? We left it with Fiddleford."

Stan turned to his brother. "I have no freakin' clue!"

"Well, there isn't anywhere else to go. Should we take it across the lake?" Ford tried.

"I don't know if we can trust it. What if it sinks?"

"Stanley, we're the ones who built it. And we sailed the Artic with it."

"Did we? Look at the words carved on the side. This is the first boat we built," Stan pointed out. Ford saw that it read _Stan O War_ and not _Stan O War II._ He climbed into the boat. "I helped build this thing, remember. It'll be fine."

The boat set sail. The twins stood on the deck, Ford stirred while Stan stood up front as the look out. Ever so often, he turned to look at his brother, feeling the excitement he felt as a child when he and his brother played together on the beach.

"Where are we going, Ford?" Stan called back.

"Where do you want to go?"

"I guess take us across the lake. It's not a really big body of water." Ford nodded. Stan turned back to look straight ahead. However, he couldn't see well through the fog. The longer he stared out into the thick mist, the more he detected the sound of a horn blaring in the distance. Out of nowhere, a larger boat crossed their path. "Ford, turn the boat, quick!" he shouted to his brother. Ford's eyes grew as he saw the approaching danger. He spun the wheel, changing the boat's course, nearly missing the collision. Once safe, the brothers watched the other boat sail into the fog and disappear, the sound of the foghorn fading away.

"What in the h— You know what? I don't even care anymore. Let's just get back to land," Stan stated.

Across the still water, land finally came into view. It felt like it took longer than it should. Ford docked the boat. The two brothers got out, but had no idea where they were now. Walking across the dock, they stopped in front of a small church. Ford kept walking toward the entrance.

"So, we're just going in?" Stan asked.

"I don't see any other place to go, do you?"

Stan sighed, following his brother.

Through the door, the radio blasted a bunch of static and otherworldly groaning. Stan looked down at the radio in his pocket. Ford already had his gun out and Stan followed suit. The flashlight caught something stumbling towards them. It appeared as two children with their bodies fused together. The abomination stretched out its arms as if in an embrace. No faces were visible and only blistering skin covered their entire body. Gunshots were fired until the creature fell at their feet. Stan stared at this nightmarish creation with a drawn mouth and eyebrows scrunched in disgust.

"Come on! We need to hurry!" Ford said as he raced ahead.

"Hurry for what? More of this shit?" Stan asked. His brother didn't respond as he walked further into the darkness. "Wait up!" Stan yelled. He ran after his brother before he lost him again.


	9. Chapter 9: Are You My Brother?

N/A: Hello,

Yes, I'm still writing this story. Since I completed "The Other World," I'm concentrating on finishing this story too. So...enjoy!

Chapter 9: Are You My Brother?

The light illuminated the path ahead. Stan held the flashlight as he watched his brother's back. Ford, somehow navigated his way down the dark hallway without any source of light. Each time they turned a corner, the light shined on the walls, showing cobwebs and deep cracks or even crevices in the concrete.

"Ford, do you even know where you're going?" Stan asked. No answer. "Hey, Poindexter! I just asked you a question!" Still no answer. Finally Stan grabbed his brother's shoulder. "Hey!" he shouted as he spun Ford around. His twin regarded him with a placid stare. Stan felt a slow burning anger form in the bottom of his stomach. "You wanna tell me what hell is going on in that head of yours?"

"You really are scared, aren't you?" his brother asked.

"Yes! Yes I am! And you should be too!" Stan studied the man who he believed he knew pretty well. "Please, let's not be reckless." As those words left his mouth, he suddenly felt a chill as Ford said them on many different occasions during their life.

"I would never be reckless," Ford replied. "How about if you give me the flashlight?"

Stan stared into the stern eyes of his brother. It felt like he was looking at his father. Giving away the flashlight, was giving away his power.

"Let's just walk side by side," Stan said.

"The hallway is too narrow," Ford answered. Suddenly, a strange and almost creepy smile graced his lips. "Don't you trust me?" Stan stared back; his eyes searched his brother's for anything false.

"You've been acting strange ever since we met up at the dock," Stan answered.

"Stanley, I just want to find a way out of this hellish town, don't you?"

Stan nodded as he handed over the only source of light.

Continuing onward, Stan noticed the path began to slope downwards. He looked up, noticing the ceiling showed a number of holes as if the building was under construction. As he took his next step, he didn't feel anything underneath his foot. Stan cried out, waving his arms wildly as he stumbled backwards. He peered down at a gapping hole in the floor.

"Hey Ford! Watch your step. I just found a hole in the floor!" His eyes gazed up as his brother continued down the hallway. "Goddamn it!" Stan swore as he rushed forward, while keeping an eye open for more holes.

Stan followed his brother around the corner into another long, narrow hallway. A few steps further and the radio began pouring static. Horrific moans came from up ahead in the darkness. Ford shined the light onto another grotesque creature stumbling towards them. He calmly aimed his gun and shot a few times until the twin monster dropped.

"Are there any more?" Stan asked the question at the same moment another one came up behind him. Suddenly, he fell forward into one of the holes. With a quick hand, he grabbed onto metal grating. He raised his gun with his free hand, shooting the abomination until it fell into the hole. Stan looked down into the abyss where the monster went. The nauseated feeling rose up his throat and made him dizzy to the point of almost letting go. His eyes looked up at his brother.

"Hey! Help me up!"

The eyes staring back at Stan appeared black and lifeless.

"Ford! Pull me up! I don't know how long I can hang on!" He began to wonder if his brother would actually let him fall. Just as Stan couldn't hold on any longer, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Ford pulled him up to the solid floor where he continued dragging his body a few feet.

"Hey! I'm good now. Let go!" Ford did. Then he turned his heels and started walking through the labyrinth again.

Moving on through more twists and turns, the twins kept on moving at a steady pace. From up above, something moved quickly across one of the holes in the ceiling. Stan stopped and peered upward. The ceiling rattled again.

"Do you hear that?" Stan called to Ford.

"It's probably best not to stay in one spot, he responded." They quickened their pace until the sounds up above faded. A fork in the road caused them to stop as there were two paths to take.

"Maybe we could split up?" Ford suggested.

"No freakin' way! I should smack you for even suggesting that!"

"Oh my God, Stanley, what do you think is going to happen?"

Suddenly, a gray tentacle came through the hole in the ceiling. It twirled around Ford's body and hoisted him up. Stan acted fast and shot it. As Ford landed, another tentacle came down and wrapped around Stan's arm. Ford shot that one, then grabbed his brother's hand and ran down the next hallway, nearly missing more attacks. Up ahead appeared to be a dead end. The two reached the end of a hallway to find a large crevice in the wall. Ford squeezed through. Stan tried to follow suit, but got stuck. He reached out towards his twin.

"Hey bro! Help me out here!" Ford turned toward him, fixing his eyes on Stan as if he didn't understand the current problem. "Don't just look at me like I some poor shmuck. Pull me through!" After grabbing his hands, Ford pulled Stan through the small hole.

No more attacks came from whatever creature was up above. Silence consumed the new area. Shining the light on the walls, Ford continued his search. Suddenly, he stopped. His eyes narrowed at some writing on the wall.

The world is teaming with unnecessary people.

It's God's decision that I fight.

As a knight of honor, as a protector of the seal, I sacrifice myself to the blood of criminals.

"What the hell is all that?" Stan asked, standing behind him.

"Just meaningless graffiti," Ford answered.

"So, who are the 'unnecessary people'" Stan wondered.

Ford waved a hand. "It's nothing."

On the other side of the room was a door. When tried, it was unlocked. The two brothers walked into what appeared to be an operating room. Standing on the other side was Joseph. He just finished sewing an arm together. Upon closer inspection, the two saw something indescribable. Stan was the first to recognize it as a bunch of taxidermy parts from various animals and maybe even humans. The body appeared human, but the arms and legs looked to be from different animals, and the head of a deer.

Joseph looked up at the two men who just entered the room. The smile on his face was dressed in pure madness. He mouth curved up into a twisted smile.

"You two found me again? How did you get to my private island?"

"Private Island?" Stan questioned. "This is big a lily pad on a lake."

"So, this isn't really a church, then," Ford concluded. "You're just using it as your little hideout."

Joseph put down the needle and thread and walked around the table to stand in front of the two.

"So, you think I'm hiding, huh?" His tone grew harsher.

"We don't care. We're just looking for a way out of this town," Stan answered just as harsh.

The man let out a spine-chilling laugh. He shook his head. "You've dug a hole too deep to ever get out!" he practically screamed.

"What the hell?! You're really messed up!" Stan yelled back.

"I am messed up. That probably is true. But they did it to me! They called me sick! They thought they could make me better! They drugged me up and all I wanted to do was take them into the other world. My world!"

He uttered a spell in Latin; a blue aura formed around the creature on the table. Joseph stepped forward causing both twins to back up.

"Perhaps, I can still take you two into my world." The monster on the table sat up and stood behind Joseph.

"We're not afraid of your— strange—sewn together creation." Stan said.

Joseph stepped to the side as the creature walked towards the brothers. The twins drew their guns and started firing. Bullets tore through the monster, but it kept coming. It swung its arms, one made from a bear and the other an ape. Ford grabbed a scalpel off the tray next to the operating table. He stabbed the creature in its bare chest. Blood poured out as the monster gave a horrific cry. Pulling out the scalpel, the gray haired man attempted to stab it again. This time, the creature grabbed him, shook him and tossed him into the stand holding the operating utensils. The contents of the table splattered onto the floor. The creature turned its attention to Stan who kept his gun aimed at its head. He took a few shots, but it didn't do much good. It bled only from the chest. Suddenly, Ford flew forward and stabbed the monster in the chest again. As he pulled the scalpel out, he tore the skin showing a beating heart.

"What the hell? Are you freakin' kidding me?" Stan cried out. He aimed the gun straight at the heart. "Move Ford!" he yelled. His brother listened and fell back. Stan shot the heart, unloading the bullets from the gun. The creature of various taxidermy parts fell backwards, landing on Joseph, crushing him. Stan looked down at the bloody mess.

"I-uh-" he tried to form his words. "We're gonna find a way out, Ford. I know that much—"

Suddenly, Ford backed into the corner and slid down into a ball.

"S-Stanley—I—"

Stan turned wide-eyed, as the drastic change in his brother's attitude was shocking.

"Lee—" Ford uttered.

Stan knelt down beside his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, come on, we'll find a way out of this place. Together."

"What if—what if I can't go with you?" he whispered.

Stan narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course you can come with me!"

Ford's eyes hardened as he stood up.

"We don't have time to sit around Stanley," he said firmly. He walked towards the exit of the room.

Stan stood dumbfounded by his brother's actions.

"What is going on with you?" he screamed. No answer. Then, he whispered, "Are you really my brother?"

N/A: Thanks for reading. I appreciate those of you who are still following the story. We're coming to the conclusion in the next chapter.


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